way next month and going forward its focus will be supporting growth as inflationary expectations are waning. Kochhar said the "government has also announced various policy reforms and a path of fiscal consolidation, which along with the monetary policy measures and a decision-making environment that facilitates capital investments would support improved economic performance going forward."

Asked about no change in CRR, Narendra said RBI could cut this any time. Moreover, it has said more open market operations are on the way if liquidity is further stretched.

Oriental Bank of Commerce Chairman and Managing Director S L Bansal sounded a bit disappointed, saying "there was widespread expectation that RBI would at least cut the CRR but to the surprise of everyone, it has left rates unchanged. Accordingly, I don't think banks will change their lending or deposit rates at the moment."